What is a data centre?

A data centre is a facility which houses a range of servers including website servers, database servers, mail servers and cloud servers. Such a facility centralises an enterprise’s shared IT operations and equipment including storing, processing and disseminating both data and applications. Typically, they house for the enterprise their most critical and proprietary assets which are vital for day to day operations. The facility provides space, power and cooling for network infrastructure.

Why would an enterprise need a data centre?

More and more businesses are digitising, becoming data-driven and in need of digital services. Computer systems are also critical for ongoing business operations. Any kind of outage, disruption or disaster will have a direct impact on productivity and thereafter, revenue. Outsourcing to a professional data centre helps enterprises become more resilient, reduce operational costs and maintain business continuity.

What are key considerations when deciding to use a data centre?

1. Location - consider how far away you are from your data centre and what you might lose from not having it nearby 2. Reliability - consider what redundant systems the data centre has in place. Look at things such as capacity, the physical environment and performance 3. Security - as all your enterprise data will be housed, any breach can cripple your business. Consider this from both a equipment and data standpoint 4. Capacity - ensure that your data centre has the space and power to meet your future needs.

What are the data centre solutions you offer?

Our Green Data Centre offers a range that includes:

• Suites - this refers to dedicated physical space
• Co-location - this refers to shared physical space
• Smart Hands - this refers to technical on-site support for physical tasks. This provides some ease to a customer’s IT support team in terms of travel constraints
• Managed Network - this includes network monitoring and other functions and services that enterprises outsource which may be remotely operated, monitored or maintained.

Do you offer co-location or private rack space?

Basis Bay offers both options. Co-location refers to the deployment of multiple users under the same mechanical and electrical systems. Private rack space refers to dedicated physical space that is not shared.

Where are your data centre facilities located?

In Malaysia, Basis Bay owns multiple data centres, primarily in Cyberjaya and Shah Alam, both in Selangor. Our other data centres are located in Australia (Sydney, Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane) and Singapore. We are present in over 30 locations across 20 countries thoughout Asia Pacific and Europe. We support over 300 clients with a focus on global financial and multinational organisations.

Does it matter where my data centre is located?

It is important to know where your data centre is located to lower certain risks.

These include:-

• Connectivity - the physical location of your data centre is important to ensure speed and latency
• Security - physical security of the centre to prevent unauthorised access
• Compliance - the compliance laws and regulations that your company will need to abide by are especially relevant where your data centre is in a different country to your primary place of business
• Natural disasters and environmental risk - these can impact the availability of your service
• Redundancy and cost effectiveness - access to more than one power source
• Business friendly location - politically unstable countries or volatile currencies can impact your costs.

How do you handle data security?

Basis Bay takes data security very seriously and is fully compliant with the requirements of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia) as well as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). As financial institutions comprise over 70 percent of our customer base, Basis Bay is audited by financial regulatory authorities from Europe, Japan and the US.

How do you handle data privacy?

Basis Bay complies with the requirements of the regulatory bodies applicable. These regulations include:

• The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) 2012
• The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) ANSI/TIA-942. This covers the telecommunications infrastructure and all other aspects of a mission-critical data center including site location, architectural and physical structure of the building, electrical and mechanical infrastructure, fire safety and physical security
• The Risk Management in Technology (RMiT) policy document. Issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia). The applicable standard is ISO/IEC 27001.2013
• The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This is a set of requirements intended to ensure all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment
• ISO 27001 (formerly known as ISO/IEC 27001. 2005). This is a specification for an ISMS (information security management system). An ISMS is a framework of policies and procedures that include all legal, physical and technical controls involved in an organisation’s information risk management processes.

What support do you provide for co-located equipment?

Basis Bay’s Multiplatform Managed Maintenance & Engineering Services (MMMES) offers a range of services which are customisable. These services include provisioning network equipment, monitoring, support and hardware maintenance.

Can I access my co-located equipment at any time?

Yes, this can be arranged. Customers are able to access their co-located equipment during business hours and on pre-arranged appointments.

What are some of the questions I need to ask myself when considering getting a data centre?

There are a number of things you need to be concerned about when considering a data centre. These include:

• Location - including factors such as distance from your business, natural disasters, accessibility, political stability
• Reliability and redundancy measures - from the perspective of power, emergencies, weather, ventilation and cooling systems
• Proper security system - including software, technology as well as physical security aspects
• Network capacity - including the ability to upgrade and meet future needs
• Backups - including ways to mitigate risks eg outages, natural disasters.

What do I need to consider when choosing between colocation and private suites?

The primary factors to consider are security and compliance. Basis Bay data centers provide both. However, there may be occasions when compliance with selected regulatory bodies or corporate risk guidelines may require enhanced security or control. On these occasions, a private suite may be more suitable than a co-located space.

What is a Green Data Centre ?

Delivering green IT infrastructure* is about streamlining processes for more effective utilisation of IT resources. It includes, for example, upgrading or extending a system rather than investments in new products. It involves optimising technology assets and extending the product lifecycle using the best possible means. It may also involve integration of old legacy systems with new cloud-based architecture. This, in turn, protects the environment as there will be minimal disposal of outdated technology.

* Basis Bay is the builder of Asia’s 1st Green Data Centre and a recognised leader in Sustainable Technology.

What assurances can you provide in terms of your data centre?

99.99% uptime availability is assured. All our data centres are certified:-

• TIA 942/A Tier III
• ISO 27001:2013, SS507 (certified DR Services Provider)
• TVRA (Threat Vulnerability Risk Assessment) compliant
• PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry - Data Security Standard) compliant

What kind of hardware and software do you use in your data centre?

Platforms

• MaaS (Metal as a Service): Mainframe, AS400, Power system, Oracle SPARC, HP-UX and Wintel
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): IOS, AIX, Linux, Windows
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): IOS, AIX, Linux, Windows
• DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service): IOS, AIX, Linux, Windows

Is your data centre carrier-neutral?

Yes, Basis Bay is carrier-neutral. A carrier-neutral data centre enables customers to order communication services from multiple carriers within the facility. In that way, customers have options and enjoy competitive rates.

What does the tier classification mean? What is the distinction between a Tier II and Tier III data centre?

The Uptime Institute is a global authority on data centre best practices. Their Tier Standards and associated certifications are globally recognised for data centre reliability and overall performance. Over 1,700 Tier certifications have been issued in over 98 countries. The Tier Certification is a proven measure of your data centre’s infrastructure capability to meet the performance level your business depends on. These standards are an unbiased set of infrastructure and operating criteria. The key values of the Tier Standard include:

• Performance based
• Technology neutral
• Vendor agnostic
• Flexible
• Lifecycle
• Certification.

Can you clarify what Smart Hands refers to?

Basis Bay Smart Hands Services (SHS) provides customers with on-site, technical expertise to assist with ongoing management, installation and troubleshooting of all the customer’s equipment at the Basis Bay Data Centre. Our on-site personnel assist enterprise customers in completing physical tasks within the data centre, based on instructions provided. SHS activities which are performed by our on-site technicians include the following :

• Toggling switches or pushing a button
• Equipment staging / Receiving all assets
• Rack & stack, unrack equipment to/from rack
• Rebooting or power cycling of equipment
• Reading off serial numbers on equipment
• Visual inspection with physical snapshots
• Relaying status of equipment status indicators
• Plug in a console point for remote management
• Moving or securing a single cable
• Replacing or verifying connection integrity
• Receiving equipment delivery inventory
• Tape mounting
• Tape storage handling
• Installing, replacing/removing pre-configured equipment components that are hot-swappable and/or of a highly modular design
• Add, remove or verify a label for equipment or cable
• Put up or remove a loopback plug on a carrier circuit to assist in remote testing
• Escort vendor to customer's space (including supervision of vendor)
• Cabling, ensuring that the quality meets the customer standards.
• Quarterly rack PDU visual inspection
• Quarterly stock cabinet inventory for cables, SFP, convertors, PDU & others.